[EMAIL PROTECTED] Couldn't agree more that changing from black to white is a very bad thing. Amy
> It's these subtle ways the larger society Blacks of bits of self-esteem > that they have all around them. It's why I still support Black-focused > media. I get sick of people asking me the age-old question, "Why do y'all > have to have Ebony and Essence, Miss Black America, or HBCU's? White > people don't have organizations that have 'White' in the title". Stuff > like this continually points out the word "white" doesn't have to be added > because it's just assumed. It be like me saying, "The Sun is pretty bright > today". You gonna turn around and ask me which sun I'm talking about? > Sirius? Betelguese? Proxima Centauri?? No, you know I mean "Sol" and when > most whites hear "hero", "love interest", "genius", "leader", etc., they > just slap a white face on it. > > > That being said, why do you think the movie's a bad idea overall? I think > it's a good idea to remember the tragedy through a well-done film. I don't > think it's too soon--frankly, it'll never be long enough for some. I know > the documentaries are good, but dramas can focus on things in different > ways. It's like movies dealing with race riots or police brutality > against Blacks: hard as they are to watch, I want to experience them. > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: Daryle Lockhart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Two things about this film: One, and probably most importantly, it > simply did not need to be made. It's in bad taste, and there's no way > to put it out without pissing SOMEBODY off. There are documentaries > already. That's enough. It was just five years ago. Anyone who > doesn't remember what happens should be GLAD. > > Secondly, this "error" should not surprise ANYone. How many ways do > we need to be told that Hollywood does not see us as human beings? If > we're not Will Smith, or some hypersexual or socially obsolete > caricature, we serve no purpose in Hollywood. THIS is why we need to > be telling our own stories, and, I hate to say it, folks, but we > need to be telling them outside of the Hollywood system. This is a > system that couldn't keep Star Trek going after Gene died, does > Transformer movies without Soundwave, and KEEPS giving Mickey Roarke > work. WE are the LAST if its concerns. Hollywood applauds our > weaknesses and tells us that "nobody wants to go see" our > strengths. Unless, of course, our strength is us taking our shirt off. > > This WTC movie is a bad idea and should serve as a lesson to "how far > we've come". > > On Aug 20, 2006, at 9:13 AM, Keith Johnson wrote: > > I respect Mr. Thomas' graciousness, but this is a big deal. I find it > hard > to believe this was a simple mistake. When researching roles, don't the > producers look up peoples' records, verify their address, name, and > other > statistics? Don't they talk to friends and associates? Don't they try > to get > pictures of them? How do you cast a role based on a living person and > not in > in shape form or fashion realize he's Black? > I think this does need to be talked about loudly. Doing so doesn't > diminish > from the heroism around 9-11, but not doing so simply creates more > victims > of another type of terrorist act: that of white America to continually > diminish Blacks in this country. > > _____ > > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) > Sent: Thursday, 17 August, 2006 23:58 > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; GIRLFRIEND; > [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [scifinoir2] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie] > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie > Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 > From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:bwatkins%40TWCNY.RR.COM> RR.COM> > Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:bwatkins%40TWCNY.RR.COM> RR.COM> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:AFAMHED%40LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU> MUOHIO.EDU > > 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans > > Wednesday, August 16, 2006 > By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette > http://www.post- <http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm> > gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm > A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" has some > people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a > Hollywood film. > <http://www.post- > <http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post- > gazette.com/image > s4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg> > gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/ > images4/20060815ap_wtc > hero_450.jpg> > > Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press > *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police > officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's > movie, "World Trade Center," a white actor was cast to portray > Thomas. ** > Click photo for larger image.* > > This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former > Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and > John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete > and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. > In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin > and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of "Lost" and Quecreek > miner John "Flathead" Phillippi in ABC's "The Pennsylvania Miners' > Story" -- plays Sgt. Thomas. > Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason > Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story. > "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," Thomas told the Associated > Press. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a > Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' " > So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal > Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed > toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine > and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided > to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin. > Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground > zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay > information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the > trapped men's location. > Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial > inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after > production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. > That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who > sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list > serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday > calling for a boycott of the film. > "You want to apologize to me?" Mr. Gray says. "Stop it." > Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular > culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they > should be, he says. > "It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white > man," Mr. Gray wrote in his e-mail. "Hollywood has always changed facts > and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor > as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing > our history." > He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The > Jewish community's mantra is "never forget" while the black community's > mantra is "forgive and forget," he said. The black community should > speak up every time this happens. > Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind > casting in the film "Pay It Forward." Kevin Spacey's white burn victim > in the movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book. > Though disappointed his character in the "World Trade Center" movie > wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island during the attacks and > now works as an officer in Ohio's Supreme Court, told the Associated > Press he's not upset. > "I don't want to shed any negativity on what they were trying to show," > he said. > The movie is much bigger than him, Thomas told the New Pittsburgh > Courier, and it's the people who lost their lives who need to > remembered. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
